As is well known, surgical instruments used in the healthcare industry must be cleaned and sterilized before and after each use. Cleaning and sterilization, of course, frees instruments from microorganism contamination, to prevent infections and the spread of diseases among patients. All medical procedures rely upon a stringent program of cleaning and sterilization.
It is common, in the case of endoscopes and similar devices, for cleaning and sterilization to be performed in multiple steps at multiple times. For example, it is common for an initial cleaning to be performed “bedside” immediately after a procedure in order to clear debris from the channel and insertion tube of the endoscope, then for the endoscope to be more thoroughly cleaned and sterilized later.
Generally, this initial cleaning is performed while the endoscope still has suction ability, and involves, first, wiping down the exterior of the endoscope with a sponge or other similar absorbent material soaked in an enzymatic detergent, and then suctioning up a relatively small amount of the enzymatic detergent through the endoscope in order to clear debris from the interior of the endoscope channel. Typically, air and enzymatic detergent are alternated through the channel to enhance the cleaning thereof.
Traditionally, the various elements necessary for performing this initial cleaning were sold separately and assembled by the person performing the cleaning. For example, the enzymatic detergent typically would be sold in concentrated form, such that the person performing the cleaning would have to measure and mix appropriate amounts of the detergent concentrate and water in a suitable container, then locate an appropriate sponge or other absorbent material, and then perform the cleaning described above. Thus, the amount of labor involved with preparing the elements necessary for performing the cleaning was typically greater than the labor involved with the cleaning itself.
More recently, a pre-cleaning kit has been developed which comprises a shallow plastic tray, in which is disposed enzymatic cleaner (in a pre-diluted form) and a sponge. The tray is sized such that only the amount of enzymatic detergent necessary for a single cleaning is included, and the tray includes a pull-away lid sealing the sponge and the enzymatic detergent within the tray. As such, the person performing the cleaning need only obtain a kit, pull off the pull-away lid, and he/she is ready for cleaning.
While this pre-cleaning kit remedies many of the problems associated with prior art cleaning techniques, it does still suffer from a number of deficiencies. For example, because of the generally flat configuration of the tray, it is relatively easy to inadvertently spill the enzymatic detergent as it is being suctioned into the endoscope channel. This problem is exacerbated because a relatively large opening is defined by the top of the shallow tray when the pull-away lid is removed. The generally flat configuration of the tray also makes it difficult for all of the enzymatic detergent to be suctioned out of the tray without requiring that the tray be tilted, which may be difficult to accomplish by a single person as he/she is trying to handle the endoscope.
What is desired, therefore, is an endoscope pre-cleaning kit which includes all of the elements necessary for an initial bedside cleaning of an endoscope, which requires little labor in preparing for the initial cleaning, which is configured such that it is not relatively easy to inadvertently spill enzymatic detergent as it is being suctioned into an endoscope channel, which facilitates the suctioning of all enzymatic detergent contained as part of the kit, and which includes a relatively small opening through which enzymatic detergent is suctioned.